Located in Oregon, lies the Willamette National Forest. The forest stretches for 110 miles (177,023 kilometers) along the western slopes of the Cascades. The Forest is 1.6 million acres (682,343 hectares) in size and extends from the Mt. Jefferson area east of Salem to the Calapooya Mountains northeast of Roseburg. The Willamette National Forest is known for its numerous volcanic peaks, the forested Cascade Range, and its outstanding rivers. Accessed by four major highways, the Forest is within a day's drive from anywhere in western and central Oregon.

FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES OVERVIEW

Day-UseFishingyes

Huntingyes

Hiking Trailyes

Picnickingyes

Camping

You may camp a maximum of 14 days out of every 60 on the Forest.

The Forest has more than 60 developed campgrounds, which contain some 1,500 campsites. Campsites generally include a table, a fire grate, and a tent or trailer space. Electric hookups are not available, although most campgrounds have water and a vault or flush toilets.

Most overnight sites require a user fee. While the Forest Service administers all campground facilities, private businesses provide daily maintenance on most sites.

The Willamette National Forest has about 1,700 miles of trail. While many are in wilderness areas, a number of trails are low-elevation, easy-access trails for year-round hiking.

The trip planning guide lists of some of our more popular trails. It includes specific hikes with detailed information and generalized maps. We will continue to add to this list over time, so be sure to visit these pages again before planning your next trip!

Three scenic low-elevation trails have been designated as National Recreation Trails. Two of them, Fall Creek and McKenzie River Trails, are located within 50 miles of Eugene, and the third, the South Breitenbush Gorge National Recreation Trail, is located 60 miles east of Salem.

During the summer, visitors can hike to any of the mountains with staffed lookouts. These include Coffin, Huckleberry, Sand, Carpenter, Warner and Iron. All sites offer excellent vistas, and during the springtime, Iron Mountain has spectacular wildflowers.

The Willamette has eight wilderness areas, most of which are near major mountain peaks in the Oregon Cascades. While trail maps on this website give you an idea of the length and difficulty of wilderness trails, they are not adequate to prepare you for a wilderness experience. Each year several people become lost while hiking in the wilderness. Sometimes they don't anticipate bad weather, but sometimes they simply are not prepared with items such as a good map and compass. Please do not rely solely on the maps provided on this website for your wilderness trip. Detailed maps are available at Forest offices for wilderness areas.